Booker T recalls backstage encounter with CM Punk at NXT Deadline.
CM Punk appeared at NXT Deadline to hear Shawn Michaels' offer to potentially join NXT as he was still a free agent at the time of the show. Punk appeared on-screen to speak with Michaels, and was around backstage during the event, where he ran into NXT announcer Booker T.
"CM Punk wasn't hiding. He wasn't hidden away in some room making a surprise appearance. He was running around and mingling. I ran into CM Punk in catering. Was sitting there talking to Jeremy Borash. I walked up to CM Punk and said, 'CM Punk! What up man?!?' He stands up and he goes, 'What's up, man? You flip flopper' [laughs]. I go, 'You know how the business is, sometimes you're a heel, sometimes you're a babyface.' [laughs]. It was very cool. We talked, small talk, he seemed to be at peace and ready to re-write the legacy of CM Punk and finish it off properly," said Booker on his Hall of Fame podcast. "I can't say anything bad about him. I know people wish I would say something bad about CM Punk. I ain't kissing ass or anything, either. It just seemed like he was in a calm space."
Booker has often given his commentary on CM Punk's career on his podcast, pointing out things he liked and didn't like about Punk, his run with AEW, and his return to WWE.
Booker continued, "People say over and over, 'it feels like I have a beef with CM Punk.' I've never had a beef with CM Punk, not once. I've never gotten to the point where I said something negative to where, 'Hey, I want to fight CM Punk,' stupid stuff like that. No, no. This is about business. When he said he's not here to make friends, he's here to make business. In this business, you have to have friends in order to do business. You're working with a lot of guys that you've got to trust in the ring. It's not like a UFC fight where you don't have to care about each other. In this business, you have to care about guys you're working with. It's just that simple, there is no way around it. If you don't, it's going to show, it's going to show very quickly and you're not going to last very long. That's not something I have to tell CM Punk. I'm not saying that to CM Punk at all. He knows that. There's a reason why things didn't work out in AEW, it's because a lot of those guys probably didn't care about each other."
When asked how he felt about Punk calling him a flip-flopper, Booker laughed and replied, "I am flip-flopper [laughs]. That's a bad thing. I'm a flip-flopper in the way of, sometimes I see things one way, and sometimes I see things the other way. That's all."
Punk ultimately signed with WWE Raw, and won't be working Tuesdays.
Fans can learn more about Punk's decision to sign with WWE Raw by clicking here.
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